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FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS

Daniel Tickner

Daniel, a 20 year old road worker, was run over by a lorry and killed on the 25th of February 2003 between Junctions 8 and 9 on the M20 motorway while putting out cones.

Peter Morgan, a spokesman for the Highways Agency, which was responsible for the repair work to the M20's crash barrier, said, 'We want to know what happened to ensure this does not happen again.' However he refused to comment further or name the contractor which hired Daniel, who Kent Police confirmed as being a traveller.

Police were searching for a woman motorist, with collar-length hair, who was spotted driving close to the scene of the incident beforehand. PC Paul Cooper said that the woman's car, travelling London-bound had turned around 180 degrees, knocking over the cones. 'The driver was probably unaware of the collision but she may be able to help us, as we need as much information as possible, and I would urge her to come forward.'

The inquest was held at Ashford and Shepway Coroner’s Court on 27 June 2004. An 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned.

Daniel and his colleague Matthew Eaton decided to put the cones back. But as Mr Eaton, a driver for Bairstead Civil Engineering Limited (BCE), reversed he lost sight of Daniel in his lorry's side mirrors. It was only the persistent sound of beeping car horns that alerted him, but by then his colleague was trapped underneath. Kent Air Ambulance was called but daniel died at the scene.

A passing motorist described to the coroner and nine jurors what he had seen. 'I was travelling along the M20 just past junction nine when I had to slow down because there were road works ahead. As I slowed down I became aware of a maintenance worker in a high visibility jacket jogging behind a work lorry in the coned off area. As I pulled level to the lorry I saw the worker stumble and fall under the lorry. He was trying to grab onto the back of the vehicle to push himself away but he couldn't manage it.

' I beeped my horn to try to alert the driver of the problem and then stopped my car nearby. By this time there were other people on the scene.'

In most companies it is normal practice to have a person guide the driver when reversing. This person is called a banksman. But it appears this was not the case at BCE.

Mr Eaton said, 'I know what banksmen are used for and we used to have them when I worked in the forces. But this was not the practice at BCE. I couldn't keep Danny in my mirrors as he wasn't jogging in a straight line. Obviously if I had known what had happened I would have stopped a lot sooner.'

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Sidney Mattingley

Sidney, a crewman aboard a dredger, the Arco Adur, on the River Medway, was crushed to death when the ship he was working on was discharging her cargo at Rochester.

Sidney was flown to Maidstone Hospital by air ambulance, where he died. A post mortem examination revealed severe liver damage and a broken spine.

Sidney was described during the inquest, held at Mid Kent and Medway Coroner’s Court at Gillingham on 6 May 2004, as a 'very experienced and safety conscious seaman' who had met his death because of confusion over working practices.

Discharging the cargo involved the lifting and rotating of a forward loading tower, which had the effect of raising the cable. But instead of the forward tower rotating, the one towards the rear of the ship had moved, causing a chute to crush Sidney.

The jury returned an 'Accidental Death' verdict but said the second mate had received no training in the procedure which led to Sidney's death, and there had been a lack of communication between those on deck and the bridge.

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Bruno Rivera

Bruno, a French engineer working on the first section of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) near Westenhanger in north Kent, was electrocuted. The site electricity supply had been restarted ('re-energized') and it is thought he came into contact with a 25,000-volt overhead power cable when he returned after finishing work to pick up something, possibly a tool.

This was the first death on the £5.2 billion site since construction started in 1998.

A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned at the inquest held at the Ashford and Shepway Coroners' Court on the 10 and 11 of November 2004.

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Paul Ross

Paul, a worker on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) was killed when he fell from scaffolding at the Hochtief/J Murphy joint venture contract site. Paul fell approximately 7 metres whilst working with colleagues to construct a reinforced concrete roof in the plant room above the northern portal to the Thames tunnels.

The inquest was held at North West Kent Coroner’s Court on 25 November 2003 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned.

Charges for health and safety offences were heard subsequently at Maidstone Crown Court. The Court fined three construction companies, Deverson direct Ltd, J Murphy & Sons LTD and Hochtief Akteingesellschaft £1000,000 for breaches of health and safety legislation (Deverson £30,000 and Hochtief and J Murphy £15000 each).

Peter Colllingwood, HM Inspector of Safety and Health, commented, 'This accident resulted from an ongoing failure by the companies involved to ensure that there was a safe system of work in place. The installation of guard rails along the open edge of the scaffold would have prevented this needless loss of life. Ensuring that scaffolding has adequate guard rails is a basic and simple precaution that everyone in the construction industry should be aware of.'

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Justin Taylor

Justin, a worker for private contractor Miller Construction at Fremlins Walk Development at Maidstone, was killed when a dumper's brakes failed, resulting in him being struck when it ran down a slope out of control.

The inquest was held at Mid Kent and Medway Coroner’s Court on 25 July 2005 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned.

In June 2007 at Maidstone Crown Court Miller Construction Ltd was fined £75,000 plus costs of £52,228, PJ Carey Contractors Ltd were fined £100,000 plus costs of £17,643, Sean Mongan was fined £2,500 and Barry Pollen was fined £1000.

Pollen had previously admitted to: driving the dumper when he was not qualified; continuing to drive the dumper after being told not to; and attempting to tip a load when the tipping area of the spoil heap was congested with material.

Mongan was accused of: authorising Pollen to drive the dumper when it is alleged he knew he was not qualified; failing to prevent him from driving it when he had been ordered not to; and failing to address dangerous practices on the site.

Peter Collingwood, HM Inspector of Health and Safety, said, 'This fatal accident could clearly have been avoided if all the parties involved had co-operated in setting up a safe site, ensuring that there was safe plant that was only being operated by trained competent drivers. On this occasion the companies involved failed to carry out even the most basic checks on the drivers ability to safely operate a dumper. It is likely that a trained driver would have recognised that the dumper was unsafe to be used and that it should be taken out of service until repaired. If adequately segregated pedestrian routes had been provided to enable people to walk to their places of work without sharing vehicle routes then it is likely that Justin Taylor would not have been in the vicinity of the dumper when its brakes failed, resulting in him being struck when it ran down a slope out of control.'

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Alexander McCully

Alexander, a construction worker from Motherwell in Scotland, was killed when he fell over into an empty fuel container he was carrying out repairs on at a BP site on the Isle of Grain operated by Strath Services. He had been employed by Mowlem as an improver/erector working on site built tanks since August 2003.

Alexander had worked at the Air BP Ltd site for 14 weeks building large steel oil storage tanks. On the day of his death he was altering work platforms to allow a roof structure to be lifted into place by four cranes. Alexander was standing on a platform on the outside of the tank close to the top, ready to rebuild an internal scaffold platform. As he climbed onto the incomplete platform on the inside of the tank, one of the three platform boards snapped and he fell 17 metres to the floor below.

Officers from Kent Fire Brigade rescued Alexander using a manhole at the bottom of the structure. He was taken by air ambulance to Maidstone Hospital where he later died from multiple injuries.

The Isle of Grain site is a fuel depot used by barges bringing oil from the North Sea.

The inquest was held at Mid Kent and Medway Coroner’s Court, County Hall Maidstone, between 9 and 13 January 2005. a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

Following a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation into Alexander's death , Mowlem PLC was fined £70,000 and ordered to pay £24,000 in costs at Maidstone Crown Court on 30 July 2008, for breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA).

HSE Inspector John Underwood said, 'This was a wholly avoidable incident which led to unnecessary loss of life. I hope this case and the fine imposed will serve as a lesson to scaffold builders and the tank building industry, and will make sure others avoid a similar fate. Mr McCully was wearing a safety harness, in line with company policy, but there was no suitable anchor point for him to attach the lanyard to.'

Mr McCully was following company policy by wearing a fall arrest harness but there was no suitable anchor point for him to attach his lanyard to the rim of the tank. For the harnesses to be used effectively there needed to be about 50 anchor points around the rim of the storage tank. The company's procedures did not require these to be fitted prior to the crane lift starting, and this was a major weakness in their system of work. Usually in the tank building industry it is easier to use a system of dedicated harness anchors that are welded into place prior to construction.

(Mowlem PLC sold the trading name and assets of McTay Engineering in January 2006. In mid-2006, Carillion PLC took over the former Mowlem group.)

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Steven Bowles

Steven was electrocuted while working as an electrician at Aylesford Newsprint, near Maidstone.

The inquest was held at Mid Kent and Medway Coroner’s Court, County Hall Maidstone in June 2006 and a verdict of 'Unlawful Killing' was returned.

CPS was involved initially but no charges were laid. However in April 2007 it was announced that the case was still being investigated.

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Peter Grey

Peter, a traffic management worker died in hospital two months after being struck by a vehicle during the resurfacing of the dual carriageway A249 between Maidstone and Sittingbourne. He was an employee of Blue Arrow Traffic Management LTD contracted to Foster Yeoman Construction Ltd.

The inquest was held at Mid-Kent and Medway Coroner’s Court on 30 May 2006 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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